From Subject Zero to The Beast
by demonic hellfire
Summary: When the Cerberus ship meant to take Subject Zero to Pragia also takes a 'Prothean' crystal with them. No one could foresee the consequences that action has as the crystal causes the ship to enter slip-space and crash land on Reach. This is the story of Jack-666.


I don't own anything.

Beta-ed by K-417

* * *

Orbit over Eden Prime 2167

Cerberus Spacecraft

Daniel Ford looked at the drugged form of Jaqueline Nought on a gurney. The Illusive Man wanted her and that's all that mattered he told himself. As he walked out he saw Charles Decker tilting a crystal believed to be of Prothean origins that they had manage to secure. "You going to be checking out your reflection in that thing all the way to Pragia?" Ford inquired.

"No, I've been on artifact retrieval before and this crystal looks nothing like any of the ones I've seen." Decker put the crystal down on the table.

"Come on, Mark's waiting for us."

As Charles and Daniel got to the cockpit they saw Mark Lensar making one last check of the systems before they went through the Relay. "Everything secure?" He asked.

"You need to ask?" Charles smirked.

"Of course not. One trip to Pragia coming up." Mark said as the Spacecraft entered the Relay. Seconds later alarms began to blare.

"Thought you checked the systems Mark." Charles snapped.

"It's not me something's messing with the core." Mark retorted as he desperately attempted to regain control of the core.

His efforts were futile as two seconds later the ship decelerated suddenly over a garden planet. Mark tried to regain control of the ship, but the wings were locked. As the ship hit the ground Daniel thought about Jaqueline strapped helplessly to the gurney oblivious to her fate.

* * *

Reach 2517

Halsey looked at a downed spaceship. "Interesting it uses a different FTL drive than ours."

"The marines responded to a report of an atmospheric Slipspace rupture. Brass thought it was a First Contact situation until they got inside." Mendez explained.

"Really what changed?"

"They found three dead humans and a live one. Then it got interesting." Mendez stated.

"How?"

"The survivor was a six year old girl. When one of the marines got close to her, she used some form of telekinesis to hurl him away."

"Telekinesis that's interesting. Some form of genetic mutation?" Halsey wondered aloud.

"Haven't managed to figure how she did it as that was only an hour ago."

"Really is that why you brought my here?"

"No from what we've managed to determine the ship comes from an unexplored part of the universe." Mendez explained.

"Some 20th century scientist theorized that there may be a planet in the universe with near identical conditions to us. These four are proof to that theory."

"Okay... now I'm thinking about that kid the marines found she'd be perfect for the program."

"I agree. Her telekinesis makes her an asset that we can't afford to lose."

"So we're recruiting Jack… don't look at me like that it was in the mainframe as Jaqueline."

"Yes, I think Jack-666 will be a good addition… After I talk with her in private."

"Why do you want to talk with her?"

"So I can find out what kind of person she is and what type of training we'll need to allow her to reach her full potential."

* * *

0630, July 12 2519 Reach

"Wake up, trainee!"

Jack woke with a start. She scrambled to her feet as she heard a boy yell in surprise next to her cot.

"I said up, boot! You know which way up is?"

She noticed the boy backed away from a man in a camouflage uniform. Jack noticed she was the only one who had not screamed in some form.

"I am Chief Petty Officer Mendez," the uniformed man next to the boy shouted. "The rest of these men are your instructors. You will do exactly as we tell you at all times."

Mendez pointed to the far end of the building. "Showers are aft. You will all wash and then return here to dress." He opened the trunk at the foot of the boy's cot and pull out a matching set of gray sweats.

Jack didn't need to be told twice she raced to the showers stripped off her nightshirt and got on the conveyor, washed herself in lukewarm soapy water, and then rinsed in an icy spray.

She ran back to her bunk, got into underwear, thick socks, pulled on the sweats and a pair of combat boots that fit her feet perfectly. She noticed that the sweats had her name stenciled on the chest: JACK-666.

"Outside, trainees," Mendez announce. "Triple time… march."

Jack and the others hurried out of the barracks onto a strip of grass.

Mendez barked, "You will make four equal-length rows. Nineteen trainees in each." Jack moved to the front of one of the rows as the rest of the kids milled around. "Straighten those rows. You know how to count to nineteen, trainee? Take three steps back."

Jack breathed the cold air. She began to remember. She had gone in for a routine doctor's appointment. He had drugged her with something. Next thing she remembered was being in a crash ship and some men with near her she had acted out of instinct and had set one into a wall before losing consciousness. Then a woman asking her if she wanted revenge on the people who had abducted her. She told the woman she'd do anything to be able to get revenge. So this was the start of how she would get her revenge that was just fine in her books.

"Jumping jacks!" Mendez shouted. "Count off to one hundred. Ready go." The officer started the exercise and Jack followed his lead. After that came sit-ups, followed by leg lifts.

Jack was tired at the end of the leg lifts, but determined to push on.

"Rest," Mendez finally called. "Trainers: get the water."

The trainers wheeled out carts laden with water bottles. Jack grabbed one and guzzled it down.

Jack barely managed to stay on her feet as she noticed the other children. They crouched on the ground, holding their sides, no one talked. Their clothes were soaked through with sweat.

"A good start, trainees," Mendez told them. "Now we run. On your feet!"

The trainers brandished electric batons, herded Jack, and the others along. They jogged down a gravel path through the compound, past more barracks. They ran alongside a river, over a bridge, then by the edge of a runaway. Once past the runway Mendez led them on a zigzagging path of stone.

All Jack could focus on was the blood pounding through her, the ache of her muscles, and hunger.

They ran into a courtyard of smooth flagstones. At the far end of the yard was a building with a scalloped dome and white columns. The words Naval Officers Academy were etched into the arch over the entrance.

A woman stood on the top step and beckoned to them. She wore a toga around her body. It took Jack a couple of seconds to realize that she not a real person.

"Excellent work, Chief Petty Officer Mendez," She said in a resonant silk-smooth voice. She turned to the trainees. "Welcome. My name is Déjá and I will be your teacher. Please come in. Class is about to start."

Some of the trainees groaned aloud.

She turned and started to walk inside. "Of course, if you prefer to skip your lessons, you may continue the morning calisthenics."

Jack quickly went up the steps. A tray with crackers and a carton of milk had been laid out for each of them.

Déjá started to tell them about a battle in which one thousand and three hundred soldiers had fought against thousands of Persian infantry.

A holographic countryside appeared in the classroom. The trainees walked around the miniature mountains and hills. Toy-sized soldiers marched toward what Déjá explained was Thermopylae, a narrow strip of land between steep mountains and the sea. Thousands of soldiers marched toward the one thousand and three hundred who guarded the pass. The soldiers fought: spears and shields splintered, swords flashed and spilled blood.

Jack was captivated by the spectacle.

Déjá explained that the three hundred were Spartans and they were the best soldiers who had ever lived. They had trained to fight since they were children. No one could beat them. The one thousand other soldiers fight along side the Spartans were Thespians.

The Persians broke and ran and the Spartans and the Thespians stood victorious on the field.

The trainees cheered. They wanted to see it again.

"That's all for today, we'll continue tomorrow and I'll show you some wolves. Now it's time for you to go to the playground." Déjá said.

The trainees ran out of the room.

Mendez and the trainers waited for them outside the classroom.

"Time for the playground," Mendez waved the trainees closer. "It's a short run. Fall in"

When the trainees reached the playground it was, nothing like anything Jack had ever seen. It was a forest of twenty-meter tall poles. Rope cargo nets and bridges stretched between the poles; they swayed, crossed and crisscrossed one another, a maze suspended in the air. There were slide poles and knotted climbing ropes. There were swings and suspended platforms. There were ropes looped through pulleys and tied to baskets that looked sturdy enough to hoist a person.

"Trainees form four lines." Mendez said.

They made four rows without comment or fuss.

"The first person in every row will be team number one; the second person in each row will be team number two… and so on. If you do not understand this, speak up now." Mendez stated.

Jack looked to her left. She saw a boy with brown hair and hazel eyes. Jorge-052. Past him was boy with black hair and green eyes. Frederic-104. To her right was a boy with black hair and brown eyes. Victor-101

"Today's game, is called 'Ring the Bell.'" Mendez pointed to the tallest pole on the playground. It stood an extra ten meters above the others and had a steel slide pole next to it. Hung at the very top of that pole was a brass bell.

"There are many ways to get to the bell. I leave it up to each team to find their own way. When every member of your team has rung the bell, you are to get groundside double time and run back here across this finish line. Mendez took his baton and scratched a straight line in the sand.

Jack noticed a trainee raise his hand.

"A question, trainee?"

"What do we win?"

"You win dinner, Number-117. Tonight dinner is roast turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, brownies and ice cream."

A murmur of approval swept through the trainees.

"But, for there to be winners there must be a loser. The last team to finish goes without food."

The trainees fell silent.

"Make ready," Mendez said.

"That kid doesn't seem like a team player." Jorge whispered.

"Yeah. Safe to say he'll ring the bell first and leave his team to lose." Victor nodded.

"Why don't we make sure that happens?" Jack smirked.

"I like you're thinking." Fredric nodded.

"Go!" Mendez shouted.

As Jorge predicted 117 got to the bell first and rang it four times. Jack and her team managed to get there next after Jack had knocked off one of 117's teammates from the platform under the bell.

"That was just cruel." Fredrick smirked after they had rung the bell.

"Hey, Mendez didn't ban that tactic so it's legal." Jack grinned.

As they reached Mendez, Jack finally managed to get the name of the trainee. It was John of all things.

"To bad you're going hunger tonight 117." Jack smiled.

"I finished first." John responded.

"No, it's a team exercise you finished first, but after what Jack did to one of your teammates. I'm pretty sure you guys are finishing last." Fredrick grinned.

"Their right number-117. You may have finished the course first, but they finished the course as a team first." Mendez stated.

* * *

Life became a blur for Jack and the rest of trainees. Each day seemed the same as the next. Most of the trainees seemed to forgot about their families, but Jack didn't that was the fuel that drove her to become the best soldier possible.

* * *

1130 Hours March 09, 2525 Reach

Halsey looked at the list of enhancements the Spartan-II were about to undergo. "I think we shouldn't alter Jack-666 height."

"And why not?" Mendez inquired.

"She's our only telekinetic. We don't know how her powers will react to the sudden change in size." Halsey explained.

"I understand." Mendez nodded.

* * *

1200 Hours March 12, 2525 Reach

Halsey looked at the sleeping form of Jack-666. She was one of the lucky ones many of her fellow Spartans had died during the surgery to make them killing machines. Unlike the rest of the Spartans who needed only to adjust to their augmented body's. Jack needed to learn to control her telekinesis. She just hoped the training she and Mendez had designed for Jack would be enough.

The reports of aliens on the colony of Harvest meant that they could not wait the three months to fully train Jack like they had planned now it would be only be six weeks.

Jack woke up to a pounding headache. It felt like someone had dropped a Warthog on her. "Nice to see you're awake Jack."

"Why am I here and not on the Hospital ship?" Jack asked.

"You remember our deal."

"Of course I do. What's that got to do with this?"

"Everything. You're here to train your telekinesis." Halsey answered.


End file.
